Swedish prosecutors request permission to question Assange in London in June or July

STOCKHOLM – Swedish prosecutors say their planned interrogation of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange over alleged sex crimes could take place in London within weeks.

Lead prosecutor Marianne Ny said Monday she has submitted paperwork to British and Ecuadorian authorities asking for permission to question Assange at the Ecuadorean Embassy in June or July.

Assange has lived in the embassy for nearly three years to avoid extradition to Sweden. He has not been formally indicted, but is suspected of rape, sexual molestation and illegal coercion involving two Swedish women he met in 2010.

Assange denies the allegations and believes extradition to Sweden is merely a first step in efforts to bring him to the U.S.

Ny said Chief Prosecutor Ingrid Isgren and a police investigator would handle the questioning.